According to a new report from China, Samsung won’t manufacture Qualcomm’s 5nm chips after all. Do note that this is just a report, and nothing has been confirmed just yet.
If this report is to be believed, however, Samsung has lost Qualcomm’s 5nm chips business to TSMC. This is quite surprising considering that Samsung confirmed it started mass production of a 5nm chipset at the end of last month.
Samsung won’t manufacture Qualcomm’s 5nm chips it seems, due to issues that occured
If you’re wondering why Samsung lost Qualcomm’s orders, well, it seems like there are problems in the development process. Samsung Foundry had issues with low yields of its 5nm EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) process.
It seems like such issues haven’t been amended, or at least that’s what this report is suggesting. This is causing Qualcomm to shift to TSMC for manufacturing the Snapdragon 875 and its X60 modem.
Do note that the report claims Qualcomm will not revert to TSMC completely. It will split its orders between the two companies. To our knowledge, the company will still manufacture the Snapdragon 735 on a 5nm node, though that could be up in the air as well.
Samsung is also working on its very own 5nm processor, the Exynos 1000, at least that’s what has been reported. Things may change in the near future, though.
Do take this report with a grain of salt. The source is not that well known, and if Qualcomm did revert to TSMC for the Snapdragon 875 and X60 orders, the company may confirm it soon.
TSMC is the world’s largest contract SoC manufacturer
Those of you who are unaware, TSMC is the world’s largest contract SoC manufacturer. The company already started mass-producing 5nm processors, starting with Apple’s A14 SoC for the iPhone 12 handsets.
TSMC is a Taiwanese company that can produce 60,000 5nm processors a month, or at least that’s what’s been reported. TSMC is looking to up this output to 80,000 – 90,000 units, though.
The Snapdragon 865, for those of you who don’t know, is made using a 7nm manufacturing process. 5nm chips are expected to be more power-efficient, and more powerful in general.
The Snapdragon 875 is expected to bring a lot of improvements to the table, as is the case every year. Chipsets are evolving at an incredible rate.
We’re expecting to see quite a few 5nm processors both this and next year, as some of them will be announced in 2020. The Snapdragon 875, Apple’s A14 chip, and the Exynos 1000 are only some examples.